Edge lighted sign



Dec. 3, 1940- L. J. DIXON EDGE LIGHTED SIGA Filed March 17, 1939llllllllllllllllllfnlllllllnllllllllll llliflalli Patented Dec. 3, 194@UNITED srrrss raam arr rsi 8 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements ln edge lighted signs and. itconsists of the matters hereinafter described and more particularly`pointed out in the appended claims. y'

o The signs with which the present invention is especially concerned,usually include a transparent panel with a grooved depiction upon oneface thereof and a source of light along one edge of the panel.

m One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a sign ofthis lsind wherein the matter depicted shows up to a better advantage.which in the presence of external light at the front oi the' signpresents one eiect and which i in the absence ci such external'lightpresents another effect, whereby the attractiveness of the sign ismaterially increased. y

Another object of the invention is to provide a sign of this kindwhereby the matter depicted Sii) may be made to appear in a morebrilliantly lighted outline, and in any one oi' a number oi colors.

Again, it is an object of the invention to provide a sign of this kindthat is of a simple construction for low cost production. is easy tokeep clean and bright and is economical in current consumption forlighting purposes.

The above mentioned object of the invention as well as others, togetherwith the advantages thereof will more fully appear as'the specifica tionproceeds.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an edge lighted sign embodying thepreferred form of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view through the sign on a somewhatenlarged scale as taken on the line 2--2 or Fig. i.

Fig. 3 is a detail vertical sectional view on a im further enlargedscale .as taken on the line t--t of Fig. l.

Fig. i is a detail vertical sectional view through a part of the sign astaken on the line d-t of Fig. 1. l

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a group of color boards that may beadvantageously employed (Cl. dil-) extending Vfeet i2 which make a goodhrm base for the sign as a whole.

On the rear face of the panel is an area it defined by a narrow grooveit and which area. in this instance, is the outline of an automohile.` 5Other narrow groove portions It are arranged in suitable relationvwithin said area to cooperate in outlining certain sub-areasrepresenting the various parts of the body, such as hood, fenders. doorsand windows, as well as the wheels and i@ bumpers as showny in Fig. 1.All of that area of the-rear face of the panel outside of the outlinegroove id dening the area it is rendered opaque preferably by theapplication of a sheet of white cardboard it. On certain portions i'i 15of certain oi the sub-areas there are coatings iii. such for example aspaint or material fused on,

as in ceramics-see Fig. 3. In this way an iritimate bond is provided andan eieetive light reective surface is obtained. The portions il] 2li aredisposed within the sub-areas to represent interior portions of the bodywhich are visible irorn the outside of the automobile through thewindows. This arrangement better brings out the detail of the articledepicted and of the vari- 25 ous parts thereof.

The grooves ifi and i5 are preferably unpolished and may be convenientlyproduced hy sandblasting as this leaves the walls oi said grooves withinnumerable minute prismatic surfaces of 3d high light refractive orreflecting characteristics. This character of the wall surfaces of thegrooves is best illustrated in Fig. 3 wherein said grooves appearin'cross section on an enlarged scale.

In the housing ii is'located a source or light 35 i9 for the bottom edgeof the panel. Preferably said source oi light is an elongated tubelight. To protect the top and side margins of the panel againstbreakage, as well as to prevent the escape of light rays out throughsaid margins, they are n enclosed in a channel-lure binding strip 2t,preferably made of metal.

On the rear face of the panel. about its top and bottom margins, is anopaque spacing strip 2i and engaged against the rear race of said strip45 is an opaque bacldng board 22 conveniently of metal to give rigidityto the structure. Under certain circumstances, part of the backing boardis visible from the front of the sign, through the transparent parts ofthe area i3 within the out- 50 line groove it.

With the arrangement just described, there is provided a relativelynarrow color board receiving chamber IM'between the panel and the back.

ing board.. Apart of the binding strip 2d associ- 55 ated with one endof the panelfhas a slit 25 there--` in, see Fig. i. 'I'his slitconstitutes the entrance slit for the chamber 24 and whereby any desiredone of a'. group of color background cards or boards 26, such as shownin Fig. 5, may be in- .serted into the chamber. When such a card orboard has been inserted into the chamber 2d, it

is disposed to the front of the backing board and covers the same aswell as the area. i3 outlined bythe groove itl and therefore it is thecolor of the inserted card or board which appears to the observer fromthe iront of the sign. The partsto the rear of the panel, outside of theoutline groove id are secured in operative relation to the panel at anumber of points 2l (see Figs. 1 and 4) in the following manner. y Atsaid points 21,A alined holes are formed in the panel IB, the sheet I5,spacer 2| and-backing board and in said holes is a rubber bushing 28.

A bolt 29 passes through the said holes and a decorative washer eiect isarranged between the head of the bolt and the front face of the panel. Anut 3| is threaded on the bolt to engage the rear face of the backingboard. When the 25 nuts 3| at said points are drawn up, the panel,opaquing sheet, spacer and backing board are drawn into relatively tightengagement so 'that there is no wavy appearance presented from the frontof the sign.

40 come light-reilective but not to the extent of the grooves so that atwo-tone eiect appears.

It is pointed out that in the presence of a source of light at the frontof the sign, such as daylight or a source of artiiicial light directed45 toward the front of the sign, the light rays therefrom penetrate thepanel and will illuminate that background fooi' the area i3 as providedeither by the front surface of the backboard or the front surface of thecolor board or card,

50 arranged 'in the chamber 2d. Thu., the appear;-

ance of the sign, to an observer at the front thereof, is one showingcertain sub-areas in a color correspondingto the backgroundcolor asprovided by either the backboard or a color board.

55 Therefore, by changing the color board or card, demonstrations of`the automobile in kdifferent color effects may be readily made. Ifdesired, matter 32 referring to the article depicted by the groove Hiand the groove ,portions i5 may be @o placed upon the front face of thecardboard I6,

,and which matter in this instance represents the y i name of theautomobile shown, see Fig. l.

When the sign is viewed from the front in'xthe absence of daylight orthe artificial light before 65 mentionedand solely lighted by the edgelighting source of light, a very different appearance is presented tothe observer. UnderI such conditions, the automobile appears as atnightVi. e. the body and area outside the outline has an 70 absence ofcolor but has its outlines such as doors, fenders,etc.,brilliantlydelned by the edge lighted grooves. Certain areas Ilhaving the coating I8, however, are relatively bright as compared toother areas `not having the coating i8 thereon. In the example given,the effect is substantially that oi' a vehicle with a brightly lightedinterior.

The matter 32 before referred to, carried by the cardboard I6 in Fig. 1,will appear or become visible inthe presence of external light and willdisappear or become invisible when the sign is 5 edge lighted only. n

Thus the sign is indeed eiective not only as a daytime sign but also asa night time sign. The appearance presented by the sign is so unique andstriking that it is dimcult to convey a true l0 word picture thereof.The matter depicted has a two-tone appearance that is very attractiveand holds the attention of the pasersby. The sign is simple inconstruction, and is easy to keep clean and is economical in currentconsumption. 15

While in describing the invention I have referred in detail to the form,arrangement and construction of the various parts thereof, the same isto be considered only in the illustrative sense so that I do not wish tobe limited thereto 20 except 'as may be specically set forth in theappended claims. l i

I claim as my invention:

1. An edge lighted sign embodying therein a panel of transparentmaterial having front and 25 rear faces, there being relatively narrowgroove portions in the rear face of the panel arranged in an outline ofdesired shape, means providing a source of light along at least one edgeportion of the panel, and means providing a surface ad- $0 jacent therear face of the panel and including an area' of desired color withinthe outline formed by said groove portions whereby one effeet ispresented to the observer when the sign is edge lighted only and anothereffect is presented to the observer when there is externa light.

2. An edge lighted sign embodying therein a panel of transparentmaterial having front and rear faces, there being relatively narrow 40groove portions in the rear face of the panel arranged in an outline ofdesired shape, means providing material bonded to certain areas of therear face of the panel Within said outline formed by said grooveportions, and means providing a surface adjacent the rearface of thepanel and including an area of desired color within said outline formedby said groove por` tion, whereby one effect is presented to theobserver when the sign is edge lighted only and another eiect ispresented to the observer when there is external light.

3. An edge lighted sign embodying therein a panel of transparentmaterial having front and rear faces, there being relatively narrowgroove portions in the rear faceof the panel arranged in an outline ofdesired shape, means providing a source of light along at least one edgeportion of the panel, and a plurality of members each adapted forarrangement to the rear of the panel and each having 4a colored area vonat least one race thereof adapted to be disclosed through cerv tainportions of the panel within the outline as formed by said grooveportions and whereby one eiiect is presented to the observer when thesign is edge lighted only and another eiect is presierlted to theobserver when there is external 4. An edge lighted `sign embodyingtherein a panel of transparent materialvhaving front and rear faces,there being relatively narrow groove portions in the rear face of thepanel arranged in an outline of desired shape, means providing a sourceof light along at least one edge of the panel, means providing an opaquebacking member arranged rearwardly of the rear face of the panel so asto provide a space therebetween, and means insertable into said spaceand providing a surface adjacent the rear face ot the panel andincluding an area of desired color within the outline defined by saidgroove portions whereby one eect is presented to the observer when thesign is edge lighted only and another effect is presented to theobserver when there is external light.

5. An edge lighted sign" embodying therein a panel of transparentmaterial having front and rear faces, there being relatively narrowgroove portions in the rear face of the panel arranged in an outline ofdesired shape, means providing a source of light along at least one edgeof the panel, means providing an opaque backing member arrangedrearwardly oi the panel so as to provide a space therebetween. meansproviding material bonded' to certain areas of the rear face of thepanel within said outline formed by said grooveV portions, and meansinsertable into said space and providing a surface adjacent the rear vface` of the panel and including an area of de'- sired color within theoutline defined by said groove portions whereby .one eiect is presentedto the observer when the sign is edge lighted only and another effect ispresented to the ob.

server when thereis external light.v

6. An edge lighted sign embodying therein a panel of transparentmaterial having iront and rear faces, there being relatively narrowgroove portions in the rear face of the panel arranged in an outline ofthe desired shape, means on the rear face of the panel for opaquing thatpart oi said race outside oi said outline, means providing a source oilight along at least one edge portion of the panel. and means providinga surface to the rear oi said opaquing means and including an area ofdesired color within the outline formed by said groove portions wherebyone eiect is presented to the observer when the sign is edge lightedonly and another effect is presented to the observer when there isexternal light.

7. An edge lighted sign vembodying therein a panel of transparentmaterial having :iront and rear faces, there being relatively narrowgroove portions in the rear face of the panel arranged in an outline ofthe desired shape, means on the rear face ofthe panel for opaquing thatpart of said face outside of said outline, means providing materialbonded to certain areas of' the rear face of the panel within theoutline formed by said groove portions, means providing a source oflight along at least one edge portion oi the panel, means providing a.surface to the rear of said opaquing means-and including an area ofdesired color within the outline formed by said groove portions' andwhereby one eect is presented to the observer when the sign is edgelighted only and another eect is presented to the'bserver When there isexternal light.

8. An edge lighted sign embodying therein a panel of transparentmaterial having front and rear vfaces, there being relatively narrowgroove portions in the rear face of the panel arranged in an outline ofthe desired shape, means on the rear face of the panel for opaquing thatpart of said face outside of, said outline, means providing a sourceoflight along at' leastone edge of the panel, .a member arranged to therear of said opaquing means and coacting therewith in forming a spacetherebetween, and means insertable into said space and including an areaoi desired color within the outline formed by said groove portion.

LOUIS J. DIXON.

